Edward's Journal 2
Today, I made a trip to the British Museum on a hunch that Henry might make an appearance. The trip turned out to be ill-advised. Henry was not present, but some nefarious plot was afoot. I was accosting a pair of ruffians guarding the door when I was distracted by a loud report. A massive clockwork beast appeared on the stage, and a noxious purple gas filled the air. In my attempt to make an escape, I killed one of the ruffians, but the other managed to wound me. Shortly thereafter, the gas overwhelmed me. I awoke to find my wrists tightly bound. Thanks to the loss of my left arm, escape was simple. I freed myself and the others who were awake. One of them, a china woman, fell to arguing with an odd looking fellow nearby. The odd-looking man turned out to be a physician, and was kind enough to bind my injuries, while the china woman and an effete gentleman (the only other awake) set to making a plan of escape. As it came out, the china woman was an excellent fighter. The effete gentleman tricked the guards into entering the room, while the doctor, she and I overcame them. It was a touchy business, but we managed it, and came away with a pair of reciprocator pistols. Exiting our prison, we came upon a guarded stair. Once again, we lured the guards down the stairs. Using the reciprocators, I slew two instantly. The others handily overwhelmed the remainder, and we were on our way. We proceeded to the exhibition hall, where we found our provisions. From a door to the East came the most grotesque sounds, including those of women screaming. Naturally, after a brief pause for reflection, we proceeded in hope of putting an end to whatever madness was occurring there. Down some stairs and around a corner, we discovered a horrendous laboratory of some kind – a maniacal man guarded by more hired trash, attempting some manner of nefarious sorcerous ritual. An unfortunate maiden was being borne along by a conveying belt. The china woman set to attempting to rescue the maiden. Spying an engine that appeared integral to his plans, I took careful aim at a fragile crystalline dome on its top and fired. The dome shattered, distracting the madman from his incantations. While the others attempted to fend off the attacking thugs. The madman pulled out a massive rifle and fired on me, winging my left arm and sending me spinning. Behind me I heard a panicked cry as one of the thugs was pulled into the ooze. I quickly steadied myself and placed a bullet neatly between the madman’s eyes: with an anguished cry he toppled into the ooze. As he died, a pair of bizarre-looking creatures emerged from the liquid – they were horribly misshapen, bearing no resemblance to any creature I had ever seen. It remained to dispatch with the hired thugs. I fired on one, wounding him. He was swiftly thereafter devoured by one of the beasts. The others, noticing they were in greater peril from the beasts than from us, turned to face them. The effete gentleman managed to kill one of the beasts. I concentrated my fire on the other as the remainder of the thugs broke and ran. Its hide proved incredibly thick, and my shots found little purchase. The odd looking man seemed engaged in some manner of sorcerous activity, perhaps attempting to reverse whatever magic was in process here. Deciding discretion was the better part of valor, I retreated with the others. The creature made a few charges at the door, and then turned away. Whither he went I know not. A calamitous explosion consumed the building, and we only just escaped with our lives. Assumedly, the strange sorcerer died as well; there was no time for him to escape. The effete gentleman and I were taken into custody by the police, while the china woman managed to evade arrest on some official excuse. After a few hours of most loathsome interrogation, we were relieved by the intervention of Count Ruprecht Masterson, who was most grateful for our efforts in rescuing his sister, Cecily (the unfortunate young lady on the conveyor). He made it clear we could expect further contact from him.